


waste no time

by MidnightBlueMoon



Series: jazz clubs make for great first dates [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 03:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17459783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBlueMoon/pseuds/MidnightBlueMoon
Summary: Hotch doesn't want to waste time waiting for things he could have now. Rossi doesn't disagree.





	waste no time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Episode 10x10. A short recap of what happened around this time:  
> Hotch broke up with Beth earlier, and Rossi just learned about his daughter the episode before.  
> Rossi asks him to join him at a jazz club. Hotch agrees, but Rossi might have lied about his motives. (That last part is my take.)

The bar is nice. It's warm, smelling like old wood, expensive liquor and something that reminds Aaron of cigars even though he knows it's not cigars. It's very much a place he can picture Rossi going to regularly. He can't stop the images going through his head - Rossi at the bar, or in one the booth, enjoying his drink, and a smile blooming on his face like a flower when he hears one of his favourite songs.

Rossi meets him at the door, and he fits into the bar perfectly. There is something about his personality that is reflected in this place, and Aaron wants to look at him until he figures out what it is. But he doesn't and instead lets himself be led to one of the booths, sitting down on the comfortable bench. They order drinks, a comfortable silence stretching across them.

When the singer enters the stage after a short break, her voice surprises Aaron a little. She sounds really good, in a way that is so effortless he might almost believe it. He turns to Rossi, who is smiling, clearly enjoying himself.

But he isn't staring at the woman on stage - he isn't looking at her more than Aaron is. Which is completely fine - but it makes what he said earlier questionable, since he clearly isn't here for the singer.

They promised not to profile each other. But Aaron feels like cheating tonight.

And if he cheats, if he just forgets why he's looking, he can think of a reason why Rossi brought him here tonight. But there are too many variables in this, there is no safety for this.

But maybe he doesn't need safety. Maybe he's feeling reckless and daring tonight, and maybe he'll risk being wrong.

He raises his glass, and Rossi raises his eyebrows. “What are we toasting to?”

Aaron feels himself smile, the feeling so strange after a long day of work. “To us. To becoming a little more ourselves every day.’

It's generic. It's very specific.

And if Rossi - Dave - feels the slightest bit like him, he'll know.

Dave smiles at him, the bright easy smile that makes Aaron feel a little lightheaded. “I couldn't agree more.” He clicks his glass against his, before taking a sip. Aaron doesn't dare to take his eyes off him. When Dave’s eyes flicker at him, a glance Aaron usually would have missed, he can’t help but smile into his glass. He can see the wheels turning in Dave’s head, and he can see him come to the same conclusion Aaron came to - maybe it’s time to stop pretending.

And when Dave places his glass carefully on the desk and turns to look at Aaron, there is something in his eyes Aaron can’t quite place. But he watches Dave watching him until the other man’s eyes flicker to his mouth, and then away. Aaron wouldn’t be surprised to see Dave blush a little with the knowledge of being caught.

He decides that if they are doing this, they might as well go for it. He softly places a hand on Dave’s, careful not to be too forward. “You didn’t bring me here to be silent all night, did you?”

It’s only after he says it that he realizes his words could be taken in a way he didn’t intend for them to be taken. Not that he doesn’t want that particular meaning of the words to be true, too.

Dave’s mouth curls up in a smile, no doubt he hearing all of the possible meanings. The man is a writer, after all. “No, indeed I did not.”

He glances at the table and sighs. “Aaron, look… is this really a good idea?”

Aaron knows better than to be affronted or hurt. This is not rejection, this is a discussion over the realistic prospects of a possible relationship. He doesn’t bother to answer that question with yes or no. “Nobody will ever get it as much as we do.”

He means everything. The long work hours, the weekends they rush back to their cases, the cold cases that never leave them, not truly. The laser focus they bring into their work that makes everything else seem small and insignificant for a moment. The difficulty of having a family outside of the BAU team. And he means it - he knows that Dave gets it all, and more so, they know each other’s demons. Maybe not all of them, but enough to find a way around them.

He doesn’t say all that out loud. He hopes Dave gets it anyway.

Dave is watching him carefully, and he thinks that maybe Dave can read it on his face. Maybe he doesn’t even mind being profiled a little. “What about…”, and Aaron knows what’s coming, can hear the question before it is finished, “... Jack?”

Aaron nods solemnly. Then he shakes his head. “I don’t know, Dave. We’re trying to take one day at a time, and sometimes it’s hard. He’ll ask about his mom and I’ll just… I’ll remember all the times I used to think we’d have so much time when he grew up. But we didn’t and now….”

He shrugs helplessly. He wants to go back in time, wants to do all the things he and Haley wanted to do but never got around to. “I don’t want to waste time, Dave. There is too much that could happen, and I don’t want to look back with regret.”

Dave looks at him, emotion in his eyes Aaron can’t quite place for a moment. When he finally understands what it is, it takes his breath away for a moment. It’s longing - softening Dave’s face, making him almost a stranger to Aaron. Almost.

The other man nods softly. “That certainly is the truth.” He hesitates before he continues speaking, and Aaron lets him. There is no rush, at least not now. Dave takes a deep breath, and Aaron patiently waits for him to say what’s on his mind.

When Dave looks up, there is a twinkle in his eye, a mischievous smile on his face. “Do you want to get out of here, Aaron?”

It’s a joke, a taunt - they are too old for cheesy pick-up lines, but he knows Dave. He knows what he means. That’s why he smiles at him, amused. “Actually, I really do.” And if Dave’s smile widens a little when he takes Aaron’s hand and laces their fingers together carefully, then that’s for Aaron to know and not tell. 


End file.
